Short-term germinated legume flours as functional ingredients in food products

Unlocking the potential of legumes through short-term germination offers an innovative approach to improving the functionality of the resultant flour. This review examines the multifaceted benefits of short-term germinated legume flour, emphasizing the enzymatic activities that breakdown complex legume compounds into simpler forms and reduce anti-nutritional factors. This process improves digestibility, nutrient bioavailability, and health-promoting properties. Furthermore, short-term germination enhances the techno-functional properties of legume flours without compromising their quality, avoiding excessive starch and protein degradation associated with prolonged germination. This review also explores the applications of short-term germinated legume flours in developing nutritious and healthy food products tailored to diverse dietary needs. Subsequent integration of these short-term germinated flours into food products provides a route for the development of cost-effective, nutritious, and sustainable options that can address malnutrition and enhance overall well-being.

Effects of molecular weight fraction on antioxidation capacity of rice protein hydrolysates

Rice protein was used as a starting material to provide rice protein hydrolysates (RPH) through enzyme-assisted extraction. RPH was further fractionated using ultrafiltration membrane (UF) and classified by molecular weight (MW; MW < 1 kDa, MW 1-10 kDa, and MW > 10 kDa). Peptides with MW < 1 kDa possessed superior antioxidant properties (p < 0.05). Therefore, UF demonstrated great efficacy in selectively separating antioxidant peptides. A Pearson correlation analysis revealed that the total phenolic concentration was correlated with oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC; r = 0.999, p < 0.05). Amino acid contents had negative correlations with the scavenging activity (specifically, IC50) of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radicals (r =  - 0.986 to - 1.000). Reducing power was related to aromatic amino acid contents (r = 0.997, p < 0.05). In this study, enzymatic hydrolysis was discovered to be an effective method of extracting and isolating natural antioxidant proteins from broken rice, thus preserving the nutritional quality of rice and making those proteins more accessible in future applications.

Nutritional and techno-functional properties of Australian Acacia seed flour: Effects of roasting on chemical composition, physicochemical properties, and in vitro digestibility and intestinal iron absorption

Acacia seed (AS) is rich in protein and iron but contains protease inhibitors that can reduce protein digestibility (PD). The seeds are generally roasted prior to consumption, although no information on the PD of roasted AS is available. This study investigated the effect of roasting time (5, 7 and 9 min at 180 °C) on the chemical composition, physicochemical properties, and in vitro PD and intestinal iron absorption of three wild harvested Australian AS species, Acacia victoriae, A. coriacea and A. cowleana. Roasting A. victoriae and A. coriacea seeds for 7 min significantly increased PD in the seeds by 36 and 61 %, respectively. A 9-min roasting time was required to achieve 75 % reduction in trypsin inhibitor activity in A. coriacea seed, while a shorter roasting time (RT) was sufficient to achieve similar reduction rates in the other two Acacia species. Among the functional properties, water and oil absorption capacities were significantly enhanced as RT increased. The starch granules in 7- and 9-min roasted A. victoriae seed flour detached from the protein matrix while random coil increased in 7-min roasted A. victoriae and 9-min roasted A. coriacea and A. cowleana, thus, contributing to enhanced PD. Although the SDS-PAGE in 7- and 9-min roasted A. cowleana samples showed reductions in the intensity of bands for high molecular weight proteins, PD was not affected by RT. However, intestinal iron absorption was not significantly affected by roasting as compared to raw digesta samples. Compared to commercial roasted Acacia seed, the considerably shorter RT used in this study improved PD in the AS flour with less adverse effects on techno-functional properties.

Characteristics of germinated corn flour and influence of germination on cookie properties

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of germination on the physicochemical, structure, pasting, and morphological properties of corn. Germination improved total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant capacity (AC). Scanning electron micrographs (SEM) of flour showed that some starch granule was destroyed with germination. In the same way, pasting values decreased due to changes in the starch granule. FT-IR (Fourier Transform Infrared) spectra confirmed that germination leads to changes in the chemical structure. The XRD (X-ray diffractometer) analysis showed that patterns did not change with germination. In addition, raw and germinated corn flour were used in gluten-free cookie preparation. The cookie dough was evaluated for stickiness. The physical, textural, colour, TPC, and AC of cookie samples were determined. Gluten-free cookies prepared with germinated flour exhibited significantly higher AC due to increase in TPC. Germination could be used to enhance functional properties of corn.

Legume Seed Protein Digestibility as Influenced by Traditional and Emerging Physical Processing Technologies

The increased consumption of legume seeds as a strategy for enhancing food security, reducing malnutrition, and improving health outcomes on a global scale remains an ongoing subject of profound research interest. Legume seed proteins are rich in their dietary protein contents. However, coexisting with these proteins in the seed matrix are other components that inhibit protein digestibility. Thus, improving access to legume proteins often depends on the neutralisation of these inhibitors, which are collectively described as antinutrients or antinutritional factors. The determination of protein quality, which typically involves evaluating protein digestibility and essential amino acid content, is assessed using various methods, such as in vitro simulated gastrointestinal digestibility, protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score (IV-PDCAAS), and digestible indispensable amino acid score (DIAAS). Since most edible legumes are mainly available in their processed forms, an interrogation of these processing methods, which could be traditional (e.g., cooking, milling, extrusion, germination, and fermentation) or based on emerging technologies (e.g., high-pressure processing (HPP), ultrasound, irradiation, pulsed electric field (PEF), and microwave), is not only critical but also necessary given the capacity of processing methods to influence protein digestibility. Therefore, this timely and important review discusses how each of these processing methods affects legume seed digestibility, examines the potential for improvements, highlights the challenges posed by antinutritional factors, and suggests areas of focus for future research.

Effect of Hydrothermal Cooking and Germination Treatment on Functional and Physicochemical Properties of Parkia timoriana Bean Flours: An Underexplored Legume Species of Parkia Genera

The present study was undertaken to analyze the impact of germination (NBG) and hydrothermal cooking (NBHTC) on the nutritional profile and physicochemical, functional and microstructural properties of Nitta bean (Parkia timoriana) (NBR) seeds. Results demonstrated that the highest crude protein and fat content could be found in NBG and NBHTC, whereas the ash content was significantly higher in NBG. Compared to NBHTC and NBR, NBG has higher emulsion capacity and stability, with values determined to be 58.33 ± 1.67 and 63.89 ± 2.67, respectively. In addition, the highest color intensity was also reported for NBG, followed by NBHTC and NBR. Likewise, NBG showed complete gel formation at a lower concentration (12 g/100 mL) than NBR flour (18 g/100 mL). Furthermore, structural changes in the lipid, protein, and carbohydrate molecules of NBG and NBHTC were evidenced by FTIR studies. Morphological changes were noticed in different samples during microscopic observations subjected to germination and hydrothermal treatment. In contrast to NBR and NBHTC, NBG showed the highest total polyphenol content, ORAC antioxidant, and DPPH radical scavenging activity, which demonstrated the potential utilization of Nitta bean flour as a natural plant-based protein source in food security product formulations.

Wheatgrass powder enriched functional pasta: Techno-functional, phytochemical, textural, sensory and structural characterization

Influence of semolina replacement with wheatgrass powder (WGP) (3-15%) was evaluated with reference to nutritional, techno-functional, phytochemical, textural and structural characteristics of functional pasta. Results showed that incorporation of WGP significantly (p < 0.05) decreased the pasting viscosity of flour blends, while it increases the water and oil absorption capacity and water solubility index. Increased levels of WGP significantly decreased the optimum cooking time from 6.00-4.22 min but increased the cooking loss (2.83-4.36%). Enrichment of pasta with WGP significantly (p < 0.05) enhanced the protein (12.16-17.33 g/100 g), fiber (1.21-4.60 g/100 g), antioxidant activities in terms of DPPH, FRAP, and ABTS. The total phenolic and flavonoid content increased from 56.20-253.90 mg GAE/100 g and 47.41-202.90 mg QE/100 g in the functional pasta. Addition of WGP significantly (p < 0.05) decreased the lightness (L*) while greenness (-a*) of the pasta increased progressively owing to the total chlorophyll pigment. The firmness and toughness of the pasta increased up to 9% WGP level and decreased further, owing to the interaction between WGP protein and fiber with gluten protein matrix as evident from Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Furthermore, cooking of pasta results in significant reduction in all the components in comparison to uncooked pasta. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy further confirmed the presence of phenols, flavonoids and chlorophyll in WGP incorporated pasta. Overall acceptability scores of pastas with 9% WGP found to have highest (7.57), and with increase in further level of WGP, sensory scores decreased (6.55). Moreover, principal component analysis also compliments the sensory results for 9% WGP incorporated pasta.

Effect of germination, roasting, and variety on physicochemical, techno-functional, and antioxidant properties of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) protein isolate powder

Chickpeas are a very important part of the human diet due to their nutritional and bioactive composition. Ethiopia is one of the top chickpea producers and consumers of chickpea-based products daily. However, limited studies were conducted on the effect of common processing methods, roasting and germination, on techno-functional and nutritional properties of chickpea protein isolates. Two varieties of chickpea, Arerti (Kabuli type) and Natoli (Desi type), were selected and treated with different roasting temperature (150 and 180 °C) and germination time (24, 48, and 72 h). The protein was isolated with alkaline-solubilization followed by isoelectric precipitation. Freeze-dried isolates were investigated for proximate composition, techno-functional properties, antioxidant properties, and antinutritional content. Chickpea protein isolates (CPIs) mean protein content was between 79.72 and 87.43%, comparatively lower for those from roasted and higher for those from germinated chickpea. Mean values of CPIs’ water holding capacity (WHC), oil holding capacity (OHC), protein solubility (PS), foaming capacity (FC), and Emulsifying capacity (EC) for both varieties were in a range of 1.07–2.47 g/g, 1.40–2.21 g/g, 43.88–69.99%, 14.00–94.00%, and 56.44–84.16%, respectively. Roasting at 150 °C improved most of the techno-functional properties (WHC, OHC, PS, and FC) while roasting at 180 °C negatively affected almost all the techno-functional properties. Both heat treatments significantly increased the antioxidant properties of the isolates. Germination for 72 h was the best treatment in improving all antioxidant properties. CPIs from treated chickpea had lower antinutritional content than those from native chickpea except for phytate on Natoli variety where no statistical difference (p > 0.05) was observed. The finding showed that based on the intended use the different techno-functional properties of the isolates can be altered by applying those treatments. Proximate, techno-functional, antioxidant, and antinutritional characters indicated that CPIs can be a good ingredient for the food industry to formulate functional foods.